Malayalam actor Kottayam Pradeep passed away reportedly from a heart attack on Thursday, February 17. He was 61. He was admitted to a private hospital in Kottayam around 3 am on Thursday after he complained of uneasiness, and passed away at 4 am. A native of Kumaranelloor in Kottayam, Pradeep had worked in around 70 films, mainly in supporting roles providing comic relief. Several people from the Malayalam film industry posted tributes and offered their condolences to the actor.
Mammootty, Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Manju Warrier, Asif Ali and many other actors from the industry expressed their condolences through their social media pages. "Even small characters were made memorable by the actor through his own style of acting," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his condolence message. Ministers Ahmed Devarkovil, R Bindu and V Sivankutty were among the others to express their grief at the actor's death.
Pradeep's debut movie was E Naadu Innale Vare, directed by IV Sasi. He appeared in the 2001 movie when he was 40. He had a breakthrough in Gautam Menon's Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. After that, his supporting role in Vineeth Sreenivasan's Thattathin Marayath was also appreciated. Following this, he appeared in a lot of Malayalam movies. Amen, Vadakkan Selfie, Seventh Day, Peruchazhi, Ennum Eppozhum, Life of Josutty, Aadu, Kattapanayile Hrithik Roshan are a few among his notable movies.
He was widely acclaimed for his unique style of dialogue delivery. He also acted in many Tamil movies including Raja Rani and Nanpanada. Papam Cheyyathavar Kalleriyatte, released in 2020, was his last movie. He had been active in theatre for the last 50 years. He was also an employee at the Life Insurance Corporation of India. Kottayam Pradeep is survived by his wife Maya and two children, Vishnu and Vrinda.